Customer Reviews

The Sugarless Plum

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(21)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Sugarless Plum by Zippora Karz has many layers to it, and many secrets that if you look hard enough, you can unlock. Zippora Karz (a little backround) is a famous ballerina who moved up in the New York City Ballet ranks from a student, to a member of the Corp de ballet, to finally the coveted Soloist role. What non dancers may not realize is that there is a higher role, the Prima Ballerina role who is above the Soloist. I think the fact that it took Zippora many many years (in fact she was in her late 20's) to be promoted adds to the element of realism and endurance. What I mean is that this is not a memoir of a famous Prima dancer who struggled with Diabetes, yet was the star of the company. Zippora struggled with her identity right to the very end of her career, and often was passed up on roles because of her health and balancing issues.

As a dancer I appreciated the detailed lives of the company members, I was amazed reading about the famous Balanchine and couldn't believe how lucky Zippora was to come in on the end of a choreographically spectacular era. I also (while no where near Company level) sympathized with her weight and eating issues as well as the strive for your teachers to notice you, and how it feels to watch some of your friends surpass you. As a person I felt my heart go out with her struggle through even the early stages of diagnosing the disease. I had no idea just how far the medical field has come along with in 20 years. The most important part to me though was how Zippora found herself after she retired. For many people who fall inlove with the stage and give their blood sweat and tears to it, stepping off it can be a difficult time, one when many lose themselves. I can only imagine the decision was so much harder for her, because she fought even harder for her right to be on stage and her right to control her own body again.

This is a wonderful memoir that anyone will appreciate, people with diabetes can relate and take strength from, and dancers can learn from and overcome whatever is preventing them from doing what they love. I don't normally read autobiographical books, but Zippora's dialogue flowed naturally and made me want to really hear what she's saying, not just listen.

This memoir of her career as a ballerina with the New York City Ballet is an insightful and moving look inside the life of Zippora Karz. Her association with this famed company began at age 18 in the corps de ballet and continued for the next sixteen years as she was noticed and groomed for principal and solo roles by the incredible choreographers of the NYCB. Her insider's description of the life of a dancer rising to the peak of her profession was fascinating and the details of the inner workings of the huge ballet company were really interesting.

Although Zippora was amazingly talented and was dancing her dream, her life was anything but easy. Her technique, passion, intensity, and perfectionism -- all part of the work ethic that a truly disciplined ballerina needs to have -- got her noticed and cast in many of the company's ballets at that time. The incredible class, rehearsal and performance schedule began to take its toll, however, and when Zippora first started experiencing symptoms of thirst, excessive urination, extreme hunger, sores that wouldn't heal, exhaustion and muscle fatigue -- she thought that's all it was -- overwork. Despite her denial that anything medically was wrong, Zippora did finally obtain blood work that provided her with a diagnosis of diabetes -- but, because she was 21 years old at the time, the doctor mistakenly assumed it was Type II rather than Type I DM and Zippora did not initially receive the correct treatment regimen. She went through years of illness but danced on despite her failing health and her dangerous blood sugar fluctuations. She tried all types of special diets, insulin injection (guesswork), homeopathic treatmets, and many other remedies until finally meeting the physician who would help her learn to control her diabetes and balance her exercise, diet, and insulin needs. After getting her blood sugar within normal limits, Zippora was able to continue her work with the NYCB and retired after having performed many incredible roles with the company. Her triumph over diabetes was made even more complete when she took on the roles of educator, advocate, and speaker for those affected with the incurable disease.

I liked this book particularly for the glimpse it gave into the heart and soul of a prima ballerina. The life sounds romantic and fantastic, but behind the scenes we see that the passion to dance must be translated into many hours of hard, grueling work in order to present the beauty of ballet that is seen on stage. To be a dancer on that level requires determination, self control, and discipline -- not to mention incredible physical strength and endurance.

I'd recommend this book to any aspiring dancer just for the descriptions of the life of a ballerina, but also to any young person who is diagnosed with diabetes. The book is a testament to Zippora Karz's ability to use her life experiences as a way to inspire and encourage others to dream big and to achieve physical and emotional balance -- with or without the threat of serious illness.

Zippora Karz is not your typical ballarina..... she is, of course, pretty and thin, determined and talented, all of the requite traits for a successful dancer. Yet, there's more to her story than what she illustrates in motion.

Karz was clearly ill during much of her early career. She was equally, if not more so , adament about her craft. This, as one may guess, was a detriment to her increasingly deteriorating health. Scores and scores of symptoms that screamed her malady failed to get the attention they desperately sought; the only ones of any concern to her were the obvious ones (sores, etc.) that impeded her dancing, or detracted from her physical beauty.

"The Sugarless Plum" is a true story about a ballarina (Karz) who ended up with a diagnosis of Type I diabetes (juvenile diabetes), but only after untold damage to her body. Does she eventually prevail over the illness? Yes. Is she able to continue her career, albeit somewhat modified? Yes. Is this a cautionary tale? Yes.

There is inspiration to be found in Karz's story; she, indisputably, has pluck and resiliance. However, "pushing through" dominates most of the book, a phenomenon we see far too often in athletes, especially young ones, with a result of permanent damage to their bodies. What is unclear is whether this kind of perserverance should be glorified.

In my humble opinion this is more of an indictment on those surrounding her (minus her doting grandmother, thank heavens for those blessed souls) than anything else. Professional dance is known for its notorious lack of oversight concerning the health of its performers.

Karz had a dream, and she's done an admirable job of fulfilling it. Still, the health issues she willfully ignored do not serve as a positive role model. This book is somewhat engaging, but only for those who can relate to the author's particular ambition. For those who have diabetes it is downright disheartening.

Zippora Karz's mother and grandmother were dancers. Growing up she received extensive training in ballet, yet, she was surprised to learn that she was talented. She and her sister attended several years of summer programs in San Francisco and New York. When Zippora was invited to attend the School of American Ballet run by the historic choreographer George Balenchine she was pleasantly surprised. At each step she struggled to be perfect as she worked harder than seems even humanly possible. Her description of growing up and leaving home for the school in New York is very interesting.

Her frenetic struggles with diabetes are almost unbelievable. I find it difficult to comprehend the drive of someone who works that many hours a day at hard, physical, extremely painful and yet seemingly very enjoyable labor. She was working so hard to grow in her career that she allowed her body to become quite diseased before she realized it. She wants us to see how difficult it was and to me it seems almost unbearable. Yet she struggled on against all odds. Her overwhelming desire to please people is quite touching. She admits that she was really struggling to be perfect in every way and it nearly killed her.

My opinion is that the medical profession failed Karz in every possible way. Even her father, a physician himself, sent her to a doctor who really did nothing to help her. Karz and her parents were very remiss in not getting her some better treatment. Instead she relied on some extreme diets and exercise as well as some mind control to try to control Type I diabetes. Poor Zippora was so naïve about doctors, men and the world in general that she allowed herself to be used and abused almost constantly. She claims to have read many books and articles and still she let her doctors get away with misdiagnosing her and misleading her.

It takes a special kind of person to be so dedicated to one thing and I certainly admire the ballet dancer's skill and hard work. But, growing up and being educated in a ballet school did not prepare her for taking care of herself.

I read this book in a couple of hours and found it interesting. But it is not literature nor is it a medical guide. It is an elementary reading level.

What I know about ballet can be written with a very large marker on a very small whiteboard...which is to say, almost nothing. Still, I found Zippora Karz' story fascinating. The book is almost split into two themes, the first being her growth from a talented child into an extraordinarily powerful dancer; the second being her struggles with ill-health as she developed diabetes and went through the physical and mental coping process. As another type 1 diabetic, I recognized in her some of the same thoughts that I went through...the "this can't be happening" denial, acceptance and followed by a determination to not let diabetes run your life. It was appalling to read about the poor quality of medical care that she initially received. Having had some phenomenal doctors myself, there's a warning intrinsic to her story about the importance of getting proper care.

The Sugarless Plum is well written and a quick read. It would be a perfect book for a ballerina of any age except for one scene that was a bit too sexual...I'd be a bit cautious if your daughter is under 14 or so. It's certainly not a book that's targeted just toward diabetics. On the contrary, it's a story about internal drive, maintaining focus and doing what's necessary to be a success. Highly recommended.

Twenty-three million Americans have Diabetes I, a disease that endangers lives, lifestyles, and daily choices.

Ballerina Zippora Karz was living her dream as a member of the New York City Ballet. She worked her way up from her role in the corps to demi-soloist and soloist, dancing in the most famous works of Balanchine.

Disaster struck her life as she began experiencing open, unhealing sores on her underarms, dizziness, urinary problems, and mood swings. She delayed going to the doctor over and over again, for her schedule was busy and there was no way someone like her---a dancer--could be sick.

She was wrong. Her first diagnosis was wrong. Zippora's very life was endangered. Until she could face the reality of her disease and the lifestyle changes she would have to make, Zippora was choosing to die.

This is an interesting inside look at the world of the ballerina, the hard work, the competitiveness, the self-doubt, and the joy. The writing is somewhat flat and ridden with cliches, and yet, for any person with an interest in dance, especially young people, or a person facing Diabetes in the family, "The Sugarless Plum" has much to offer. This is more or less a YA memoir.

The Sugarless Plum by Zippora Karz is about the author's experience living with diabetes. Karz's case is a bit unique, as she's a ballerina, so she must walk a fine line in her insulin and sugar intake.

I felt the Sugarless Plum was fairly depressing. I know she eventually gets past her disease, that's what happens in pretty much every IMPORTANT ISSUE/DISEASE memoir, but it still sort of made me sad. I guess I never really thought of diabetes as being a big deal, after all I've read The Babysitter's Club, and Stacey never seemed to have huge problems with her diabetes.

I thought the dance aspects of the book were fairly interesting, as I don't know anything about dance. I can't sit still long enough to watch a dance show -- they sort of bore me. However, reading about dance is a whole other ball game.

I definitely would have liked to read more about Zippora's family, they seemed quite fascinating, I wanted more about why her mom was so cool with her leaving home for NYC at 16 to dance. I know my parents would have put up a shitstorm if I did that.

The writing was, much like every other issue based memoir only minus the crazy world of drugs, mediocre. I would recommend this if you are interested in learning about diabetes or are interested in the NYC Ballet Company.

Magnificent book. I'm always nervous when I pick up a book featuring someone who battles illness. Often they're depressing or self-pitying. In this book you can skim over many of the sections about diabetes to get a wonderful story about the growth of a ballet dancer.

I loved the way Zippora was so matter of fact about her career. She's modest about her extraordinary talent: very few dancers reach even the corps of the New York City ballet and only a tiny fraction get promoted to soloist in a good company. As a ballet fan, I enjoyed reading about Zippora's journey from a California ballet school to Balanchine's company. I loved the explanations of how it feels to dance on stage.

As a follower of the Pacific Northwest Ballet, I especially enjoyed the references to Peter Boal, then a fellow student at the SAB, now Director of the PNB. There's even a photo of him as a youg student, partnering Zippora.

It seems like I've been dishing out those five star ratings lately, but the books I've reviewed for the Vine program have been exceptional.

The book The Sugarless Plum is another one of those outstanding books. I started reading this book last night, stayed up way too late, and finished this book tonight. Author Zippora Karz provides a backstage view of the ballet world while educating readers about diabetes. She does this in a most entertaining yet educational way.

Perhaps it helps to be interested in ballet, as I am, to like this book. I don't think so. The writing is very clear even when encountering discussions about the different forms of diabetes and how it's treated. The dance information is explained clearly so if you've never had a ballet lesson you would understand the different ballet positions, etc.

Karz is a not only a graceful dancer, as depicted in the book photos, she is a gifted author.

Highly recommend.

I read this book in one day. It hooked me completely. I felt Zippora Karz conveyed her story with simplicity and elegance. I do have an intense interest in its major subject areas: ballet and diabetes. I was in love with ballet as a young person. Karz brought me back to the world of dance. I could even hear the music my teacher used to play. The Sugarless Plum beautifully illustrates the tensions and competition of the high end of dance. The book reads like a "Who's Who" of the ballet world, with luminaries mentioned on every page. Through the author's words, I got the sense of the ferocious drive and discipline a dancer must have to reach the heights.

Her treatment of her diabetes was just as compelling. Juvenile diabetes took my cousin's life. After witnessing my cousin having a low sugar episode, I thought, "How could anyone live with that?" I was most interested in reading about a dancer living the grueling life demanded by her profession AND coping with diabetes.

I found her initial journey from doctor to doctor and brush with an unscrupulous practitioner riveting. Having known several people with cancer who went into denial in their own ways, I appreciated the courage with which Karz discussed her own denial and how it could have cost her life. Finding adequate medical treatment, even in a sophisticated place like NYC, proved difficult. She thought she was getting good medical advice, but it turned out not to be. The fact that she persevered until she got a correct diagnosis, then went on to dance as long as she did, is inspiring and magnificent. I felt her authenticity throughout the book.

Karz writes about her life in a clear, elegant fashion which I found very satisfactory and professional. She does not dish gossip or dirt about anyone, especially major figures in the ballet world. I found this absolutely appropriate.